Paper doll having combined ornament and fastening device



Sept. 8, 1970 L. BIRCH 3,528,079

PAPER DOLL HAVING COMBINED ORNAMENT AND FASTENING DEVICE Filed Jan. 2. 1968 INVENTOR. LAWRENCE BIRCH BY m4; 144: 0?,

ATT-O EYS United States atent O 3,528,079 PAPER DOLL HAVING COMBINED ORNAMENT AND FASTENING DEVICE Lawrence Birch, Rego Park, N.Y., assignor to Standard Toykraft, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 694,903 Int. Cl. A63h 9/00 U.S. Cl. 46-157 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A paperboard figurine having on its front surface a sheet type outer garment. The garment and figurine have registered apertures above the center of the figurine. A stud is pushed through the apertures rear end foremost from the front of the garment to the back of the figurine. The rear end of the stud is slightly larger than the apertures so that it will not permanently enlarge the apertures. The front end of the stud is enlarged and of an ornamental configuration. It has a fiat back surface which rests against the portion of the garment covered thereby.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention A paper doll constituting a flat paperboard figurine clad with a paper sheet garment held in place by a front headed stud having a knobat its rear end.

Description of the prior art Paper dolls are an ancient plaything for young girls in the four to ten year age bracket. For many years paper dolls have usually constituted a fiat figurine in the shape of a paperboard blank having a profile resembling the silhouette of a human figure. The front surface of the blank carried an illustration of the figure which conventionally was of full length and conventionally was depicted as clad in a tight body fitting garment which might be undergarments or a bathing suit or a leotard. The arms usually stood away from the body somewhat, being slightly outthrust or akimbo, so that the young girl could play with the doll. The doll further was provided with a wide variety of paper garments. These were of many styles and categories. For example, they included a variety of dresses of difierent styles, colors, cuts, skirt lengths, sleeve lengths and decolletage, or different kinds of sport garments, or different kinds of outerwear, or costumes, or uniforms.

The paper garments also included suitable means to detachably engage the garments to the paperboard figurine. Probably the most prevalent method of attaching the garment to the figurine, and the one still most widely used, was paper tabs extending from various portions of the periphery of the garment and adapted to be folded around the sides and over the back of the figurine. The tabs were subject to various disadvantages. For example, they were difficult to cut out with a pair of scissors. If the child slipped past one tab, that tab would be permanently removed from the garment and the garment could no longer be securely held to the figurine. The tabs were unsightly after the paper garment was cut out and before it was coupled to the figurine; they made the garment appear less realistic than it would otherwise be to the eyes of the child. Even when the tabs were folded around the figurine they still could be seen and they impaired realism. Furthermore, after the tabs had been used a few times, they no longer would hold the garment in place because the tabs no longer were stiff at the folds and tended to relax. Additionally, the tabs tended to tear off with constant usage and they did not hold the garment firmly 3,528,079 Patented Sept. 8., 1970 to the figurine, so that the figurine had to be handled with great care. Also the tabs had to be located at a garment edge that fitted closely to the underlying portion of the edge of the figurine, thereby limiting the configuration of the garment and the placement of the tabs.

The art was fully aware of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the tab method of attachment and to overcome these, various alternates were suggested. For instance, it has been proposed to utilize triboelectric forces, that is to say, static attractive forces, which are generated by rubbing the paper garment on the mannikin or on some other object, so that the garment, in effect, stuck to the figurine. This method has not been successful because the triboelectric forces dissipated in a comparatively short period of time, particularly in damp weather, and because it required too much handling of the paper garments with consequent dirtying, rumpling and creasing thereof. Furthermore, after the figurine was handled by a child, its front surface tended to become coated with a thin film of oil which made it more difiicult to utilize triboelectric forces.

Another proposed method of attaching the paper garment to a paperboard figurine was by magnetic attraction. In this method the rear surface of the garment was provided with thin ferrous pieces adapted to be registered with magnets carried by the figurine. The application of the garment to the figurine then would bring about magnetic coupling to hold the garment in place. The difficulty with magnetic mounting means was its substantial expense and its stiffening of portions of the paper sheet garment which made the same somewhat unrealistic.

Still another method which was proposed was to form the side edges of the paperboard figurine with a thin slot into which tabs carried by the garment could be inserted. This method had all of the disadvantages of the tab method, heightened because of the slot, plus the additional disadvantage of the expense in forming the slot.

Yet another proposed method was to utilize a mechanical coupling element such as a snap which was secured to the figurine from the rear and which projected through an opening in the garment. Subsequently, a socket was coupled to the projecting forward end of the element. This last-named method was costly to employ and imparted an unrealistic appearance.

Other methods, too many to go into at length, have been suggested, but until the present, none of these have replaced the inexpensive tab structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper doll of the character described which utilizes a new arrangement for coupling a sheet paper garment to a paperboard figurine, the new arrangement being characterized by its inexpensive construction, its ease of use, its ability to be used over and over again without deterioration of the coupling, the garment and figurine, and its particularly realistic appearance, this being one which enables the coupling element to blend into, so as to appear part of, the garb of the figurine.

It is another object of the invention to provide a paper doll of the character described in which the coupling element is so constructed and so located as to simulate ornamentation which would naturally be worn with the sheet paper garment and on the figurine.

It is another object of the invention to provide a paper doll of the character described in which the coupling ele ment can be selected from a set of such elements, whereby to increase the play value of the toy.

Other objects of the invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the paper doll hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings in which are shown various possible embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a front view of a paperboard figurine clad in a paper sheet dress which is coupled thereto in accordance with the present invention by a stud having a front ornamental head;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of alternate forms of studs showing different configurations of the front ornamental head.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a paper doll embodying the present invention. Said doll includes a stiff paperboard figurine 12 which usually is in the form of a full length repesentation of a human being viewed fom the front, so that the figurine essentially is a front silhouette. The sides of the figurine are profiled to form the silhouette.

The front surface of the figurine bears a representation of a human figure which may be emplaced, as by printing, directly on the front surface of the paperboard, or by superposing and cementing an imprinted paper sheet on the front surface of the paperboard. As is usual, and as is here shown, the arms of the figurine stand away from the body, either extending outwardly and downwardly, or being akimbo. The purpose of such disposition of the arms is to better display the garment which will be superimposed on the figurine.

The paperboard at the lower portion of the legs conventionally flares out to form a base 14 which also may be provided with a crosspiece (not shown) to assist the base in acting as a stand. Furthermore, if desired, a foldable flap may be provided at the back of the figurine which, when outfolded and locked in outfolded position functions as a support in cooperation with the base 14 to enable the figurine to be free standing. None of these details have been here disclosed, since they form no part of the present invention and since they are conventional in the art.

The body of the figurine is printed with suitable close fitting clothing C, such, for instance, as underwear, i.e., panties and bra, or a bathing suit as illustrated, or a leotard, it being important to the practice of the invention, as likewise is conventional for paper dolls, that the garment imprinted on the figurine not extend noticeably beyond the silhouette of the body of the figure represented by the figurine; otherwise the clean silhouette line would be broken and it would not be possible to shOW the figurine clad in a garment having portions which are intended to be closely fitted to the figure, such, for instance, as a sheath dress or a jersey.

The paperboard from which the figurine 12 is fabricated is of comparatively thick stock so that it will be selfform-maintaining. For example, a typical stock will have a thickness in the order of 0.11 inch.

The doll is provided a series of sheet paper garments of which one garment 16 is illustrated. The garment is cut from sheet paper stock, e.g., coated sheet paper stock, in any desired configuration and is imprinted in a style and colors as may be desired, this too being conventional and not a feature of the invention. The garment 16 shown is a sheath dress with short sleeves and an above-the-knee hemline. The garment is closely fitted to the torso and hips and slightly flares below the waist. The garment is proportioned to fit the figurine.

Pursuant to the present invention, the garment does not include tabs to attach it to the figurine. Nor does the doll include any of the hitherto proposed arrangements for holding the dress to the figurine. Instead, there is provided a unique coupling element and system for securing the garment in place. In particular, the paperboard figurine 12 is provided with a front to back aperture 18 on the vertical axis of the figurine above the waist. Since the figurine is a front silhouette the aperture 18 is located in the region of the sternum of the figurine. The aperture is formed in any suitable fashion, preferably by punching the opening therethrough in a direction from the front to the back, so that the front end of the aperture does not project beyond the generally plane front surface of the figurine.

As shown, the front end of the aperture lies slightly in back of the generally plane front surface of the figurine, that is to say, is slightly depressed below this plane surface by the action of the punching tool. The configuration of the rear surface of the figurine around the aperture conforms to that of the front surface. More specifically, the rear suface of the figurine around the aperture protrudes rearwardly from the otherwise generally plane configuration of the said rear surface. Such protrusion 20 is due to the action of the punching tool which in its passage from the front to the rear of the figurine, driving ahead of it the plug the removal of which leaves the aperture, forces the surrounding part of the figurine earwardly and leaves a bore,

The sheet paper garments provided for use in cladding the paperboard figurine, such, for instance, as the dress 16, are each also provided with an aperture 22 which is in a position matching, i.e., aligned with, the aperture 18 when the garment is in its proper position on the figurine such that the garment conforms to the figurine, having its side edges matching the side edges of the figurine where the garment is supposed to be closely fitted, having its sleeves matching the arms of the figurine, and having its shoulder lines matching the shoulder lines of the figurine. Thus, the aperture 22 of the paper dress is adjacent that part of the dress which will overly the strenum of the figurine and specifically overlie the aperture 18. The aperture 22 preferably is of substantially the same size as the aperture 18. Both said apertures are circular.

A coupling element 24 is employed to secure the sheet paper garment to the paperboard figurine, the novelty of the present invention residing in the use of such coupling element and in the use of the apertures 18, 22. The coupling element constitutes a stud having a shank 26 with a knob 28 at its rear end and a head 30 at its front end. For ease and simplicity of manufacture, and in order to enable the coupling elements to be fabricated by mass production at a low cost, the coupling element or elements preferably are fabricated by injection molding from a thermoplastic synthetic material, such as a thermoplastic resin. For a reason which soon will be apparent, there desirably is employed a flexible resin having a low surface coeificient of friction. A suitable resin for this purpose is polyethylene. The shank 26 is circular and has a diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the apertures 18, 22. As a practical matter, the diameter of the shank 26 is from barely, for example, 0.005 inch, less to barely, e.g. to 0.005 inch, more than the diameter of the aperture 18, so that it is from a snug fit therein with slight play to a frictional fit.

The length of the shank 26 between the knob 28 and the head 30 is at least equal to the combined thickness of the paperboard figurine 12 and the paper sheet garment 16. Such shank length may be, and as shown is, greater than the combined thicknesses of the figurine and garment by a small fraction of an inch, for instance, & to of an inch.

The knob 28 includes an intermediate portion 32 of maximum diameter which is in excess of the diameter of the shank 26. Said knob tapers rearwardly from this portion of maximum diameter in the configuration of a squat conical surface. This bullet-like surface acts as a rear cam to facilitate entry of the knob into the aperture 18 when the coupling element 24 is initially introduced into the paperboard figurine from the front. The portion 32 of maximum diameter has a diameter in excess of the diameter of the aperture 18. The amount of excess is quite small so as to enable the knob readily to be pushed through the aperture 18 and to prevent permanent enlargement of said aperture. However, the excess must be present so as to prevent accidental withdrawal of the knob through the aperture 18 in a retrograde (forward) direction. The amount of the excess typically is about inch, although an even lesser excess is satisfactory.

The configuration of the forward surface of the knob 28 between the portion 32 of maximum diameter and the shank may be flat and perpendicular to the shank, but preferably, as illustrated, constitutes a fillet whereby to supply a forward camming surface to ease re-entry of the knob into the aperture when the coupling element is to be disengaged from the paperboard figurine by movement in a forward direction. In other Words, in the preferred form of the invention the knob 28 constitutes a portion 32 of maximum diameter and the knob tapers to a lesser diameter in both front and back directions from said portion.

The head 30 of the coupling element has a maximum dimension perpendicular to the shank which is substantially greater than the diameter of the shank. Desirably, this maximum dimension is at least twice the diameter of the shank and preferably at least three times the diameter of the shank. The undersurface of the head 30 is flat and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shank 26, whereby this undersurface can lie fiat against the underlying portion of the front surface of the garment 16 when the coupling element is thrust home into the paperboard figurine. The thickness of the head 30 is small, desirably less than the diameter of the shank and preferably not much more than one half the diameter of the shank, so that the head, when made of a thermoplastic material, e.g., a polyethylene, can be slightly flexed so as to permit the fingernail of a child to be slipped under it when a child wants to grasp the head for the purpose of disengaging (pulling out) the coupling element.

By way of example, with a paperboard figurine having a stock thickness of 0.11 inch and an aperture 18 which is 0.005 inch larger in diameter than inch, a typical coupling element will have a shank length of inch and a diameter of W inch, and a portion 32 with a diameter of inch.

The head 30, in accordance with this invention, is shaped into an ornamental configuration so as to simulate an article of ornamentation worn by the paperboard figurine clad in a paper sheet garment. A typical ornamentation is shown in FIG. 1 wherein the head is in the shape of a bow. Other ornamentations are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 wherein the stud 24' (FIG. 3) has a head in the shape of a heart with a thin flange and the stud 24" (FIG. 4) has a head in the shape of a Maltese cross on a thin back-up disc.

To mount a sheet paper garment 16 on the paperboard figurine 12 the garment is applied over the front surface of the figurine in such a manner that the aperture 22 registers with the aperture 18 and so that the garment is properly disposed on the figurine, i.e., so that the side edges of the garment run down the side edges of the figurine where they are a close fit, so that the sleeves of the garment match the arms of the figurine, and so that the shoulder line of the garment matches the shoulder line of the figurine. Then the coupling element is pushed through the registered apertures 22, 18 knob end first in a direction from the front to the back. The bullet-like shape of the leading tip of the knob spreads (enlarges) the apertures 22, 18 slightly to permit through passage of the portion 32 of maximum diameter and the following insertion of the shank 26 up to the point that the flat undersurface of the head 30 presses against the portion of the front surface of the garment underlying the head. Because the aperture 18 has a diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the shank 26, the shank is a snug to a friction fit, so that once the coupling element is pressed home, the inner surface of the aperture 18 engages the outer surface of the shank 26. This frictional engagement is not illustrated in FIG. 2 Where the aperture 18 is idealistically shown with perfectly straight side walls. In practice, these side walls are somewhat rough and spring back to a diameter slightly less than that of the diameter of the punch and therefore these side walls, as just mentioned, embrace the shank to retain it in position against accidental displacement when the head of the shank presses against the garment. The pressure of the head of the shank against the garment is sufiicient to hold the garment in frictional contact with the paperboard figurine and thereby restrain relative rotation between the garment and figurine. It thereby is not necessary to provide a second coupling element the presence of which would destroy the realism achieved by the use of a single coupling element having a head in the shape of an ornament and located on the figurine and garment where ornaments conventionally are found.

When it is desired to replace the garment with another one, the child inserts a fingernail underneath the periphery of the head of the coupling element and pries the same out a short distance, enough to enable the edge of the head to be grasped by the tips of the fingers and to pull out the coupling element.

In like manner one coupling element can be substituted for another in order to change the style of ornamentation which the coupling element provides.

It thus will be seen that there has been provided a paper doll which achieves the various objects of the invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. A paper doll comprising a paperboard figurine constituting the silhouette of a human being and having imprinted on its front surface a representation of such human being clad in a form fitting garment such as an undergarment, bathing suit or leotard, said figurine having a front to back aperture therethrough on the vertical axis of the figurine and above the waist of the figurine, the aperture being in a region of the figurine which would be covered by an overlying garment, a sheet overlying garment for the figurine dimensioned to fit the figurine and overlie a portion of that front surface thereof, said garment being free of tabs and of mechanical devices to hold the garment to the figurine, said garment having a front to back aperture therein in a position in which it is registered with the aperture in the figurine when the garment overlies the figurine in matched position thereon, and a coupling element which solely secures the garment to the figurine, said coupling element including a shank which is fitted in the aperture of the figurine, said shank having a knob at its rear end and a head at its front end, said shank coupling with the garment and figurine by pushing the knob first into and through the aperture in the garment and then into and through the aperture in the figurine, said knob having a portion of maximum diameter slightly in excess of the diameter of the apertures in the figurine and garment to enable the knob to be pushed through said apertures without permanently enlarging the same and said knob tapering rearwardly from said portion of maximum diameter, said head being of ornamental configuration simulating the configuration of an ornament such as a piece of jewelry or a bow, the back surface of the head being flat and perpendicular to the length of the shank, said back surface resting flatly against the underlying portion of the front surface of the garment 7 and pressing the garment against the figurine so as to hold the garment in place on the figurine.

2. A paper doll as set forth in claim 1 wherein the shank frictionally fits the apertuure in the figurine.

3. A paper doll as set forth in claim 1 wherein the 5 coupling element has a low surface coefficient of friction.

4. A paper doll as set forth in claim 1 wherein the knob has a portion between the portion of maximum diameter and the shank which portion tapers in diameter toward the diameter of the shank to ease forward withdrawal of the coupling element from the figurine.

5. A paper doll as set forth in claim 1 wherein the maximum dimension of the head perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shank is at least twice the diameter of the shank.

8 6. A paper doll as set forth in claim 4 wherein the thickness of the head is not more than about one half the thickness of the shank.

7. A paper doll as set forth in claim 1 wherein the coupling element is fabricated of polyethylene.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 526,901 10/1894 Hoyt 46l57 1,868,427 7/1932 Moore 46157 2,748,517 6/1956 Berkis 46-157 ROBERT P'ESHOCK, Primary Examiner 15 I. W. MITCHELL, Assistant Examiner 

